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Press Release: The Union Catalog of Buddhist Texts (UCBT) has formed five committees

Wed, 10/07/2009 - 07:44 — Weerasak Suwannawong

Press Release
September 25, 2009

The Union Catalog of Buddhist Texts (UCBT) has formed five committees to create an online catalog for all the canons of Buddhism, including the Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, and Mongolian canons. The project members are currently creating a master list of all texts in each of these canons and identifying the catalog data that will be useful for potential users around the world. The catalog is to be launched in 2010. The UCBT project was created through the generosity of the International Association of Buddhist Universities (IABU) and the Royal Thai government under the auspices of the UN Day of Vesak celebrations in Bangkok Thailand on May 5, 2009. At that time, the IABU brought together 21 organizations from 16 countries involved in creating major digital projects for placing the canons of Buddhism online. They signed a joint resolution to create that UCBT that will combine their catalog data. The intent is to link the catalog to the electronic collections of the actual texts on the individual member websites, with free universal online access. The IABU will be host institution for developing the UCBT.

Comments

Has there been any update to this project? I have tried to find some information in both English and Thai but unfortunately have not found an update. Also, I have to ask is there research into other Buddhist canons being carried out? I am particularly interested in the texts in the Lao traditions since I have heard that there is quite a bit of difference between the Lao scriptures and scriptures from the other Theravada countries of Southeast Asia (e.g., Thailand, Cambodia, Burma). Again, if there is any update please contact us so that we may notify others.